Pocket wallet or letter case



Aug- 29 1950 L. G. STANLEY 2,520,176

POCKET WALLET 0R LETTER CASE Filed Dec. 21, 1945 'Tlc'.l.

INVENTOR I ATTO R N EYS v Patented Aug. 29, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT 1OFFICE Y l n 2,520,176," l *Y POCKET WALLET on I-.Ecr'rnaossaV LeopoldG. stanley, MepleweedvfN. J.' Application December 21, 1945,'serie1 Ne.636,301 4 Claims. (C1. 15o-"39) This invention is a novel pocket walletor letter-case such as is usually composed of leather or like limpmaterial and having rst and second, or left and right, side sectionswhich are closable together about an upright central hinge line, withinterior pockets or recesses to receive various flat articles, papers,tickets, cards and the like.

The general object of the invention is to provide such a wallet which isof superiol` convenience in use, with a variety of readily accessiblepocket spaces of novel arrangement. A further object is to provide sucha wallet which is also simple in structure and operation; and a furtherobject is to facilitate the manufacture of such a wallet and minimizethe costs thereof both in materials and labor of fabrication. Other andparticular objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thehereinafter following description of an illustrative embodiment thereof.To the attainment of such objects and advantages the present inventionconsists in the novel wallet, and the novel features of construction,arrangement. and detail herein illustrated or described.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is an inside face View of thewallet or pocket letter-case in open position and standing upright.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the wallet taken substantiallyon the section line 2 2 of Fig. l.

The foundation elements of the disclosed wallet comprise a one-pieceouter layer A and a onepiece inner laye,m B, each of these being of thefull size and dimensions of the Wallet, which is of upright oblong shapewhen closed. The outer layer A may be a single quadrilateral piece ofleather without any interruptions or features of structure other thanits relation to the inner parts; while the inner layer B has variouscutaway portions which are combined with supplemental parts, thesefeatures characterizing the disclosed Wallet.

One important feature of the present invention is the minimizing of theextent of stitching and lconsequent labor. The illustrated seams aremarked with the references w to e inclusive and the more importantthereof comprise the peripheral seam w which constitutes a continuousstitching around the entire peripheries of the layers A and B, both ofwhich layers are uninterrupted at their peripheral edges; and theupright seam c by which an upright bar member IB4 is attached to aseparator wall D as will be described; and a stretch y of seam by whicha bar member B5 is stitched to a partition E. Other disclosed seams Willbe referred-to below.

By the general illustrated construction is af.- forded the .greatstructural advantage of eliminating peripheral joints that are socommonly presentin wallets, such joints being places Where adjacent oroverlapping parts of the structure appear at the peripheral edge,requiring that the connecting seam ride over these vulnerable pointswhich thus become the first places in the wallet to receive wear andbreakage of seam. It can be shownthat to attempt to construct a walletlike that herein disclosed, but under the former method of built-upconstruction, as many as ten such wear points areA involved, all ofwhich are eliminated by the structure herein disclosed, whichis seen topresent unusual thinness of product, especially around the edges of thewallet but also throughout its structure.

The walletis shown as having the first or left side section A' and thesecond or right side section A2 foldable together along the uprightcentral hinge line A3. v

The one-piece inner layer is cut away in a plurality of places, such asthe four cutaway areas .or aperturesto be described. The rst suchcutaway is the upright wide-mouthed aperture B' centrally located so asto span the hinge line, Aextending well beyond it at both sides butterminating vertically slightly short of the upper andlovver stretchesof the peripheral seam w. By reason of this aperture B the wallet closesand opens easily, there being only a single thickness` of sheet materialalong the hinge line with the exception of the integral narrow marginalstrips at the top and bottom by which the interruption of the stitchingby the upright aperture is avoided.

In one feature of improvement the aperture B is supplemented by ahorizontal slot B2, the two aperturesl mutually connecting, thehorizontal aperture commencing at the top end of the upright apertureand constituting a transverse extension therefrom to a point near theupper left corner of the first section of the wallet, slightly short ofthe peripheral seam which passes around said corner. By this,arrangement there is left a flap C of the inner layer B that is adaptedto be swung open cornerwise to receive contents inthe space or pocketbetween the outer and inner layers at the rst or left side section ofthe wallet.

This Aarrangement constitutes an extremely convenient way of loading andunloading the wallet space at the left or first section. The top edge ofthe flap C is well below the stitched marginal rim or strip of thewallet, whereby the manipulation of the flap and the insertion andextraction of papers is facilitated, which papers may in fact extendsomewhat above the top of the nap when desirable or necessary. As anaccompanying convenience there is shown a second flap or divider C',which is inserted between the flap C and the outer wall A and ispreferably slightly larger in width and height than the ap C, being alsofree at its top edge and its inner edge. ln this way both of the flaps Cand C are capable of the diagonal flexing action for insertion of flatarticles into the respective pockets above and below the divider flap.Said divider flap may be secured in position by being extended, asshown, to the extreme left as well as to the extreme bottom of thegeneral wallet layers A and B, so that the peripheral seam w, at theleft edge and at the bottom edge serve to hold the divider flappermanently in its operative position.

In the second or righthand section of the Wallet, the inner and outerlayers B and A form between them a pocket openable toward the hingeline, but this pocket is of special structure containing certainsubdivisions. Slightly to the right of the central upright aperture B isan olset upright slotl B3, preferably narrower than the aperture B andforming, between upright aperture and the slot, an upright bar B4 ofleather. Reaching beneath that bar gives access to one right-handpocket, while reaching above it leads to a second pocket, the twodivided by a separator wall D, the left upright edge of which isattached to the left upright edge of the bar B4 by an upright stitchedseam x. The separator D extends rightwardly between layers A and B,

and its interior top and bottom edges, and preierably also its uprightedge, are secured by being extended to the outer periphery of thewallet, between the layersA and B so as to be `included in theperipheral seam w. In this way the space between the outer and innerlayers at the righthand section of the wallet is separated or dividedinto two pockets, both facing the central v'hinge and each ofsubstantially the full height of the wallet.

In the preferred embodiment, the optional feature of a further interiormember or partition E is employed, located between the separator wall Dand the righthand section of the inner layer B; this partition extendingto the righthand margin, and preferably also to the top and bottommargins, of the wallet, whereat these edges of the partition are securedvpermanently in place. The purpose of the partition wa'll E is to forman upwardly opening pocket with'an entrance through a horizontalwide-mouthed aperture BG. This open slot B6 gives access `upwardly to apocket between the partition and-the inner layer, suitable to carrypasses andthe like, `for which purpose the panel-likefoblong of 'layer Bis preferably formed with a window opening B7, framing a transparentflexible window 'pane BS through which the pass may be viewed; said panebeing secured in place by inclusion insI suitable seam or seams, orotherwise, Yas by a horizontal seam z along the lower edge ofthe crossbar B which extends between the fhorizontal aperture B6 and the windowopening B". The horizontal aperture B6 also gives access downwardly to apocket formed between the partitionE and the overlying.panel-likeipOrtion B9 of the inner layer B; thispocket being convenientfor carrying small articles such as tickets.

By the described yoptional arrangement of .a avinclowopeningtherec-iseformed betweenthe .offiset vertical open slot B3 and thewindow opening B7 a second upright bar B5 to which the inner uprightedge of the partition E is stitched by seam y.

As an optional feature the upright slot B3 may be securely closed, forthe security of the upright pocket to which it leads, by means of aslide fastener F, for example of the hook and runner type, the samebeing tted into the upright slot B3, and its left and righthand elementsbeing attached Vrespectively to the upright bars B4 and B5, for examplein the conventional way of stitching the fabric portions of saidelements to the adjacent leather edges by a stitched seam y whichextends upwardly and downwardly and across the top and bottom, aroundthe slot B3, said seam y including the portion or stretch y thereof,which extends along the lbar B5 and serves also to Secure the partitionE thereto. When the runner member F is pulled up this closes the uprightpocket which is reached .through the open slot B3, while the slidingdownward .of the runner gives access thereto.

Another optional element is an extra pocket G stitched upon the lefthandportion or `panel of the inner layer B, a well known expedient wherefurther vaccommodation is desirable.

,Another convenient adjunct is a pencil holding loop H, consisting of ashort piece of leather Vrounded to accommodate a pencil, located aboutAmidway' of the height of the wallet, substantially at the hinge linethereof, and with its 4ends extended under the seam line a: to hold thepencil loop .securely anchored between the bar B4 and Vthe separatorwall D at the righthand side of .the hinge line.

There has thus been described a wallet or pocket letter-case embodyinglthe principles and attaining the object of the present invention; andas many matters of structure, arrangement .and detail may be variouslymodied without departing from the novel principles it is not intended tolimit the invention except to the extent set forth in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed ist 1. A wallet or pocket letter-case of leather .orlike ,limp material having first and second side sections closabletogether along an upright central hinge line and comprising outer andinner leather layers of the full size and shape of the wallet, andhaving a peripheral stitched seam interconnecting 4said inner and outerlayers, said inner vlayer being Aformed with a central uprightwide-mouthed aperture of a width sufficient to span well beyond thehinge line at Yboth sides; the Vinner and outer layers at the rst sidesection forming between them one or .more pockets openabletoward thehinge line; andat vthe second ,side section the inner layer beingcutwith an olcenter upright open slot parallel `with and spaced from suchcentral aperture, thereby .forming between them a narrow upright bar,

and a Vseparator wall interposed between such vinner and outer layersand having its proximal edge attached to said upright bar and beinginteriorly secured in place, thereby separating the pocket space `intotwo pockets both openable toward the hinge line, one under said barthroughsuch central aperture and the other over lthe bar through suchoicenter slot.

.2. A wallet as in claim l and wherein beyond the oicenter open slot inthe second side section is a :partition wall substantially coextensive.with the area between such offcenter slot and the distal edge of thesection and attached ln place at its opposite edges between theseparator wall and the inner layer, thus providing pocket space betweensaid partition wall and the inner layer; and the inner layer being cutwith a transverse open slot located at an intermediate height andextending from near said offcenter slot nearly to the distal edge of theinner layer, thereby forming and giving access to an upper and a lowerpocket.

3. A wallet or pocket letter-case of leather or like limp materialhaving rst and second side sections closable together along an uprightcentral hinge line and comprising outer and inner leather layersinterconnected by peripheral stitching, said inner layer being formedwith a central upright wide-mouthed aperture of a width suiicient tospan well beyond the hinge line at both sides; the inner and outerlayers at the rst side section forming one or more pockets; and at thesecond side section the inner layer being cut with an oicenter uprightopen slot parallel with and spaced from such central aperture,therebyvforming between them a narrow upright bar, a separator wallinterposed between such inner and outer layers and having its proximaledge attached to said upright bar and being interiorly secured in place,thereby separating the pocket space into two pockets both openabletoward the hinge line, one under said bar through such central apertureand the other over the bar through such ocenter slot; and a partitionWall interposed and secured between the inner layer and the separatorwall and extending between the oicenter slot and the distal edge of thesection,

thus providing pocket space between the partition wall and inner layer;and the inner layer being out with a transverse slot of substantialwidth at an intermediate height by which access is afforded bothupwardly and downwardly into such pocket space between the partition andthe inner layer.

4. A pocket wallet or letter-case of leather or like limp materialhaving lefthand and righthand side sections closable together along anupright central hinge line and constructed with an outer layer and aninner layer both of the full size and quadrilateral shape of the wallet,and having an interconnecting stitched seam close to the peripheraledges, said inner layer being cut with a central upright wide-mouthedaperture of a width sufficient to span well beyond the hinge line atboth sides .but terminating vertically slightly short of the upper andlower stretches of such peripheral seam, and with a transverse aperturein the lefthand section of said inner layer extending from the top endof such central upright aperture to a point near the upper lefthandcorner of the wallet short of such peripheral seam at such corner,thereby leaving an exposed ap of the inner layer adapted to be swungolpen cornerwise to receive contents between the outer and inner layersat the lefthand side section of the wallet; and at the righthand sidesection the inner layer being formed with an offcenter upright open slotparallel with and spaced slightly from such central aperture therebyforming between such slot and aperture an upright bar, with a separatorwall interposed between the righthand sections of said inner and outerlayers, thus separating the between-space into two pockets each openabletoward the central hinge line, and said separator wall having itsproximal edge attached to said upright bar.

LEOPOLD G. STANLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,671,298 LEnfant May 29, 19281,677,770 Harnsberger July 17, 1928 1,683,996 Snow Sept. 11, 19282,156,875 Schwartz May 2, 1939 2,161,015 Buxton June 6, 1939 2,219,807Buxton Oct. 29, 1940 2,318,278 Arnold May 4, 1943 2,406,672 Dingman Aug.27, 1946

